Jubilant residents poured into the streets at what seemed to be an abrupt capitulation from the world’s longest-serving head of state. Mr. Mugabe, 93, said he was stepping down for “the welfare of the people.”

Zimbabwe will have a new leader for the first time in 37 years. This video looks at the mix of hope and skepticism its people have about the future.

_____

• The U.S. authorities are holding a former Hong Kong government official and a former foreign minister of Senegal on charges of bribing high-level officials in Chad and Uganda. Prosecutors said the money was meant to secure contracts for a mysterious, private Chinese conglomerate, CEFC China Energy, which has global ambitions and enormous wealth.

The U.S. claims jurisdiction because some of the deals linked to the two officials — Patrick Ho, 68, and Cheikh Gadio, 61 — were made in the United States. CEFC China Energy issued a blanket denial.

American networks acted rapidly against Charlie Rose, a longtime, influential television journalist and interviewer, after multiple women raised allegations of what the president of CBS called “extremely disturbing and intolerable behavior.”

_____

•A range of analysts told The Times that President Trump’s re-designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, and the addition of more sanctions, might dash any remaining hopes that diplomacy might end threats from Pyongyang.

Such prospects do not bode well for South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, who has sought to ease tensions as the country prepares to host the Winter Olympics in February.

North Korea has yet to respond to Mr. Trump’s move.

_____

Image

CreditPool photo by Michael Klimentyev

• President Bashar al-Assad made a rare trip out of war-ravaged Syria, visiting Russia and thanking President Vladimir Putin for military intervention he credited with “saving” the country.

Both take part in a summit meeting today with Iran, Turkey and Russia aimed at ending Syria’s six-year civil war. The Islamic State has lost much of its territory there, but its fighters remain a threat, and armed opposition groups still hold wide sections of the country.

Business

Image

CreditIllustration by Andrew Rae

• China’s state media points to bike-sharing as one of the country’s “four great new inventions.” (The others: mobile payments, e-commerce and high-speed rail.) Our Magazine looks at the importance Beijing assigns to the sharing economy.

In the News

• A crowded mosque in Nigeria was attacked by a suicide bomber. A police official said at least 50 people had been killed. [The New York Times]

• U.S. lawmakers who visited Myanmar this week said that military operations carried out against the Rohingya Muslims had “all the hallmarks” of ethnic cleansing. [Reuters]

• A Chinese rights lawyer who has long defended the families of activists was declared guilty of inciting subversion and sentenced to two years in prison. [The New York Times]

• China praised Cambodia’s “efforts to protect political stability” after the main opposition party was dismantled by the nation’s top court. [Reuters]

• Mount Agung, the rumbling volcano on the resort island of Bali, finally erupted with steam, smoke and ash, but no lava. The alert level has so far remained unchanged. [ABC]

• Russia confirmed that it had detected a radiation spike in the Ural Mountains, close to a sprawling Soviet-era nuclear plant. But it rejected suggestions that it was the source of a radioactive cloud that had hovered over Europe recently. [The New York Times]

• Male dolphins off the coast of West Australia have been observed offering gifts (sea sponges) to females, and enlisting male “wing men” to help find mates. [ABC]

Noteworthy

• “No idea how to tell this horror story”: The father of a professional ice hockey player allowed us to print the emails he sent our reporter over 18 months, tracking his son’s deterioration caused by what he believes to be brain trauma sustained in the sport’s violent role of “enforcer.”